Archive for November 2012

Check out this week’s giveaways from the member sites of the Boston Parent Bloggers. While you’re there, take a few moments to read a post or two. You never know when you might find a brand new blogger to follow.

[These contests are not affiliated with Boston Parent Bloggers. Rules of entry and deadlines are determined by the individual blogs.]

*Bloggers: You must be a current member of the Boston Parent Bloggers to post. Non-member submissions will be removed. Please submit the name of your blog and a few words to describe your giveaway in the “Link Title” area.

Check out this week’s giveaways from the member sites of the Boston Parent Bloggers. While you’re there, take a few moments to read a post or two. You never know when you might find a brand new blogger to follow.

[These contests are not affiliated with Boston Parent Bloggers. Rules of entry and deadlines are determined by the individual blogs.]

*Bloggers: You must be a current member of the Boston Parent Bloggers to post. Non-member submissions will be removed. Please submit the name of your blog and a few words to describe your giveaway in the “Link Title” area.

Guest blogger Leah Klein lives with her family of four in Cambridge, MA where she and her husband are slowly bringing their house out of the 1970’s and into the present. She writes as the Boston Family Foodie and blogs at Pearls and Oysters.

Boston Parent Bloggers are handy when it comes to juggling schedules, baby gear, screen time, homework time, but what about around the house? Well, just like with parenting we all have our strengths! Luckily, the bloggers who attended the Harvey Building Products Showroom in Burlington didn’t have to also don hard hats and pick up tools of any sort.

As most home owners are, we were all in different stages of redoing, repairing, or upgrading our homes from minor details to major overhauls. Bloggers were given a chance not only to tour the Harvey showroom, but also to hear from the Boston Globe’s Handyman on Call, Peter Hotton, who has been the Boston Globe’s Handyman on Call for over thirty years and had plenty of great stories and handy anecdotes to share. Since Peter answers questions in a variety of ways he hears from all sorts of homeowners. Savvy homeowners who tend to be older and know quite a bit about taking care of their home usually call in (from 1-6 p.m. on Tuesdays at (617) 929-2930. Then there’s the chatroom (Thursdays at 2 p.m.) where everyone is young, enthusiastic and don’t know anything about their homes. It was great to hear from someone who knows his home inside and out speak honestly about everything from his former dislike of the original, now much improved, vinyl siding to his Harvey windows that he is extremely satisfied with.

Then, it was on to exploring the show room. It was great to see the windows in mock houses and get a real feel for the options. Windows and sliding glass doors was a focus for me, because the windows in our Cambridge home are all from the 1970’s and as the chill in the air outside becomes more and more pronounced so do the drafts through our house. It was great to learn that the Harvey classic windows are guaranteed for 20 years. It’s also nice to know that you’re supporting a company that is respected by its employees and that manufacturing happens just one state over up in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

As we were walked through it all, it was nice to see outside clients coming in, sent by their contractors or neighbors perhaps, to look at materials in person so they knew what they’d be getting. Harvey works directly with contractors and not the general public, but you can always find a good recommendation for a contractor through your parent webgroups, in person groups, neighbors, or sites like Angie’s List.

Lastly, I learned about the Mass Save programs that will help you make improvements to your home. Since Harvey windows have very clear Energy Star ratings, they qualify and will save you money especially if your windows are as old as ours.

Thank you to Harvey Building Products for taking the time to walk us through the showroom and host us.

Editor’s note – Also thanks to UrbanSitter for providing a babysitter to watch the kids who attended the event.

Check out this week’s giveaways from the member sites of the Boston Parent Bloggers. While you’re there, take a few moments to read a post or two. You never know when you might find a brand new blogger to follow.

[These contests are not affiliated with Boston Parent Bloggers. Rules of entry and deadlines are determined by the individual blogs.]

*Bloggers: You must be a current member of the Boston Parent Bloggers to post. Non-member submissions will be removed. Please submit the name of your blog and a few words to describe your giveaway in the “Link Title” area.